Being Nico
by Jesse di Angelo
Summary: Being Nico chronicles the life of Nico di Angelo after the close of "The Last Olympian". This story follows Nico as he deals with friendship, Gods, demons, epic battles and romance. :D
1. I Am Inside the Hades Cabin

Being Nico

Nico di Angelo paced around the Hades cabin at Camp Half Blood. Ever since summer started, he had been working with Annabeth Chase on the renovations. As an outstanding architect, she offered her wisdom and creativity to him as an "early birthday present". It was only June; Nico's birthday was in August.

The demigod let his eyes drift from his wooden bunk covered with a red bedspread, to the pit he had dug as a way to summon and communicate with the dead. Above his makeshift shrine was a mantle, with each of the figurines from an old game he used to play; Mythomagic. In the center of the mantle was Hades, the figurine his sister Bianca had lost her life for. On the opposite end of the room was his sword. It was made of Stygian iron, forged in the River of Styx. It could kill monsters, but not harm mortals.

Nico fingered the skull ring on his hand he took in all the details of his newly refurbished cabin. Come to think of it, he had never really been intrigued by skulls of death, or anything typical of the underworld. Hell, he found all the Emos and Goths kind of creepy! But, after Bianca's death, he became more sullen and solitary, believing that only the dead respected him. So, his outward appearance evolved, probably influenced by the time he spent with his father in the underworld. Nonetheless, he gravitated toward v-cut sleeveless undershirts topped with aviator jackets and black skinny jeans, his skull ring and necklace.

He looked toward the plate of scraps left over from lunch, and tossed them into the pit. Nico briefly considered summoning Bianca, but decided against it. In one smooth motion, he slipped out of his jacket and flopped onto his bed. In all honesty, he had everything he wanted. A new home, surrounded by people who thought he was a hero ever since he obliterated the Titans with an army of dead people. But still, something was missing. Sure, he had great friends in Percy, Annabeth, Grover and some of the Gods, but he didn't exactly feel loved. After all, his mom and sister were dead, and his dad wasn't exactly all lovey-dovey, barring the fact that they didn't have the best relationship. Nico looked at the dart board directly across the room, decorated with pictures of his father. He snatched a dart off his nightstand, positioned his arm to throw, but with the shake of his head, set it down dismissively. Once again, Nico laid down on his bed with a sigh, and attempted to sort out his feelings. No, he wasn't mad at his dad, even though holding grudges were his fatal flaw. He wasn't all that mad at the world, even though most of society viewed him as an outcast. "Fuck them" he thought. "They wouldn't understand."

Perhaps he needed to spend more time training so he would feel better about himself. Yeah, um, no. After about 20 minutes of trial and error, he placed his finger on a possibility. Maybe he needed a relationship, like a girlfriend or something. He noticed that ever since Percy had been dating Annabeth, Percy seemed like a much happier person. He could tell from accidently walking in on them kissing, that Annabeth didn't hate it either. "Yeah," he thought to himself. "A relationship." But how the hell was he, the Son of Hades, going to get a girlfriend? Sure, he had had a few crushes, but nothing worth carrying on with. There was a girl in the Aphrodite cabin, however. Her name was Jessica, and she was just about the finest thing Nico had laid his eyes on. Her body would make any supermodel jealous, and her luscious blond hair was almost as pretty as the Golden Fleece. Her face was flawless and her complexion was impeccable. But how was someone as drop dead gorgeous as her supposed to notice someone like _him_? He was damn well gonna find out.


	2. We Find A Centaur at 3:00 In The Morning

Thunder rumbled above Camp Half blood. Lightning sounded with a shattering CRACK, and Nico di Angelo woke with a start. At first he reasoned that he had woken up because of his startling demigod dreams (which by the way, are unlike normal dreams, giving signs or hinting at messages) but, after hearing a second clap of thunder, he knew the storm had aroused him. "A storm?" he thought. "At Camp Half-Blood?" Impossible. The camp's magical boundaries forced any weather patterns around its borders. So how did a storm get here? Nico didn't have too much time to contemplate. With his ADHD he quickly remembered his dream and jumped out of his bed to tell Chiron. Luckily, he glanced down to realize he was only wearing boxer-briefs and an undershirt. He raced to his closet and yanked his Aviator jacket of its hanger, stuffed his legs into a pair of skinny jeans, and again, headed for the door. This time he tripped over a pair of converse and fell face first on the floor. "Shit, shit _shit!_" he muttered, rubbing his chin as He hastily smashed his feet into the shoes, and raced out of his room. He panted down the corridor, and just as he was beginning to pick up some decent speed, BAM! He head-on collided with Percy Jackson. Both demigods fell to the ground.

"Whoa" muttered a dizzy Nico clutching his left temple. Percy was the first to come to his senses.

"Whoa dude, are you ok?" Percy offered a hand to Nico.

"Yeah, sure" he muttered. "Wait a minute!" a mischievous smile spread upon Nico's thin lips. "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

Percy stuffed his hands in the pockets of his flannel pajamas. "Nothing" he answered.

"Liar!" accused Nico. Both demigods smiled.

"Alright, if you must know," began Percy. "I had a weird dream that I thought I should alert Chiron about."

"Chiron's cabin is the opposite way that you were running," Nico pointed out.

"He wasn't there"

Then the grin fell from Nico's face. "Hold on, I just had a demigod dream too!"

Without passing a word to each other, both boys sprinted off in the direction that Percy was running. They ran pass the Hermes, and Zeus cabins. When they rounded the Athena cabin, Percy paused almost infinitesimally. They dashed around the Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Ares cabins before hitting the lawn that would lead them to the battle training grounds. Nico knew this area almost as well as Percy; they both spent most of their free time training. Abruptly Percy groped at his companion's sleeve.

"Over there!"

"Where?"

"I don't see him!

"Oh, come on!"

Percy had either seen Chiron, or some freaking mirage Nico told himself. He didn't see a thing, except for the usual shadow travelers and lost spirits, let alone a centaur. Chiron or no Chiron, Nico followed Percy's lead. After all, he trusted him.

The night air felt cool and damp to Nico. He loved the mysterious tingle it gave him as it whipped across his face, and whipped through his hair. Finally, Percy stopped. In front of them was Chiron.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Jackson and Mr. di Angelo!" Chiron chortled. "What brings you here at 3:00 in the morning?"

Percy smiled, breaking the tension that was thin as a knife. "We both had, err, odd dreams and felt we should, um, warn you…Wait! What are you doing here anyways?"

"I felt that something was out of balance, and came to investigate. But no matter. Tell me about these dreams of yours."

Percy went first. "My dream took place on Olympus, you see. All the 12 Olympians were there, except Ares. Hestia was present too. They seemed to be contemplating something. They kept bickering. My dad, Poseidon, continued t slam his trident on, well, whatever the floor of Olympus was. Apparently, Demeter had spotted a pack of hellhounds that were headed to Camp Half-Blood, and came to Zeus for help. Zeus didn't want to be bothered with such 'trivial matters' as h called them, and dismissed the idea of lending help. Demeter pleaded, and finally Zeus called for a counsel. One by one they all showed up: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, and even Hades. But Ares still didn't show up. None of the gods really seemed bothered by this." Nico snickered. It was true, no one really liked Ares.

"Anyway, they started arguing about whether or not they should do something about the hellhounds. Zeus and Hera thought it didn't need to be dealt with. Athena didn't think it was wise to ignore them. Artemis and Demeter agreed. Ares spoke everything in haikus, so I wasn't sure if he was saying "I am so cool" or "You are all fools" My dad slammed his trident and reminded the council of what they had promised me; to claim and care for all their offspring. Hermes and Apollo were undecided. Hades was accused of summoning the hellhounds, but he swore that nothing had left the underworld. His opinion was that the Gods should "leave the little pests to the mercy of the hellhounds." At this Nico rolled his eyes "Bastard" he muttered under his breath.

"Well, what was there conclusion?" prodded Chiron.

"They were still debating when I woke up."

"It seems to me that a pack of hellhounds is on its way, but I don't know who summoned them." Chiron concluded. "And it's unlikely that we will receive any help from the Gods." The centaur turned to Nico. "What about your dream, Nico?"

Nico shifted, letting Percy's dream float above him like a tattered balloon

.

"Well, my dream was similar to Percy's." he began. "It started in the Ares cabin though, for some reason. Clarisse seemed uncomfortble to me, but none of her friends seemed to notice. Then the vision faded to a pack of shadow-traveling hellhounds. It's very odd that Percy saw them in his dreams, because it's usually only the Gods, Hades and his offspring who can see shadow-travelers. Anyway, they were about 15 or so miles away from the camp borders. I began to wonder what would happen to the hounds as they attempted to get through the magical boundaries. In my dream, I wanted to try and call them off, but being a dream, my powers were useless. Finally, after they cleared another 5 miles, I counted them. 17. Suddenly, as if it sensed me, one of the massive beasts turned and looked straight at me. It opened its jaws to reveal teeth half the size of a street lamp. It snarled, and thunder growled. That's when I woke up."

Nico tilted his head up at Chiron. "Well?" he asked, puzzled. "What can you make of it?"

Chiron lowered his hand from his beard that he was previously stroking. "It appears clear that it wasn't a coincidence that your dreams corresponded. As children of the Big Three, your dreams are more realistic and powerful, and maybe in a sense, more meaningful. I would like to hope that they were just your average nightmares, but we can't ignore the facts. Obviously something is wrong. I fear that the hellhounds are, in fact coming up on us. If we are lucky we have about 10-15 minutes."

Percy studied the centaur's worn face, etching each wrinkle into his mind. "Alright then" Percy took charge. "Nico, we better go wake up the rest of the camp and prepare for the attack." he turned to Chiron. "Thanks"

Thunder rumbled overhead as the two demigods darted back to the cabins.


	3. I Talk To The World's Hottest Girl

"Zeus' anger must have caused the thunderstorm" Percy panted. "His powers are greater than the ones surrounding the camp."

"So now we wake everyone up?" inquired Nico

"Yep"

"This will be interesting. Imagine you are sleeping in your bed and then along comes your friend, telling you to get up because a pack of vicious hellhounds are about to attack."

Percy chuckled and they closed up on the cabins.

"Dibs on the Aphrodite cabin" Nico smiled

"Wow, dude. I call the Athena cabin." Percy countered, and both set off in opposite directions.

Luna Logan glanced at the clock. 2:47 it beamed at her. She hopped out of her bead and slumped over her vanity table. All the other Aphrodite girls were in bed sleeping, but not Luna. She just couldn't sleep. It wasn't a nightmare that woke her up, she just plain wasn't tired.

Luna closed the curtain behind her vanity table. All the Aphrodite girls (and the one gay Aphrodite boy, Rashod) had their own table, in a sort of closet. It vaguely reminded her of the dressing rooms at White & Black. She flicked the light on her Tiffany Lamp and the room began to materialize.

After adjusting her makeup, perfumes, hair appliances and jewelry she began twirling a mascara wand over her already voluptuous eyelashes. The truth was Luna was really pretty. She had gorgeous blue eyes that changed from time to time. Her chestnut-brown hair hung half-way down her back and complemented her flawless complexion perfectly. To make her life easier, Luna had twisted her hair into a braid before she went to bed last night. Still intact, it flowed down her shoulder in a graceful brown nave.

Next, she applied blush and a hint of her favorite bronzer. If anyone had spotted someone putting on makeup at 3:00 in the morning, they would have condemned them as a lunatic, but not Luna. For her, doing her hair and makeup was a way for her to relax, and sift through all the incomplete thoughts woven into her mind. She finished plucking her eye-brows and plugged in her hair curler that she might not even use. The demigod traced the brand name that was embossed on the handle. Over and over, her fingers spelled out "CHI". Coming to her senses, Luna smiled. She loved Chi. She had 6 curlers that bared that name, all varying in sizes well as a drawer full of flat irons. Revlon, Bed Head, Helen of Troy, Conair, she marveled at them all.

Luna was preparing to shake her hair out of its braid when she heard a noise behind her. She opened the curtain to see all of her friends being woken up by a boy wearing all black. As he gently brought one of her friends out of their sleep, her turned and saw Luna. He smiled, and she felt herself blush, just a little.

"Hi" he said

Luna smiled. A slight breeze flowed through the open window and rustled her nightgown.

"You're Jessica, right?"

"No" Luna smiled sadly. "Jessica was killed in the battle against Kronos last year. I'm her twin sister, Luna."

"Oh," Nico started, aware of how nervous he was. "Well, nice to meet you. Luna"

"_Nico to meet you? What the hell is that?" _ he thought.

"Um, by the way, a pack of hellhounds is on its way to ah, attack us so you might want to get dressed for battle." He said, unsure of himself.

Luna's expression didn't change. She was already pre-occupied with watching Nico shake his hair out of his eyes. _"he is seriously cute" _she noticed herself thinking.

The buzz of chatter made Nico think that the rest of the Aphrodite girls had realized what he said. 'Well then we have to go to the armory" one girl said, and the rest followed suit. Nico expected Luna to go with them, but to his surprise she stayed put.

"Whoa, hellhounds?" she asked, suddenly a little alarmed.

"Kind of slow on the uptake, now aren't you? Nico said jokingly. They both chuckled. An awkward silence passed between them.

"Would you mind walking me to the armory?" Luna found herself saying. "I'd hate to go alone."

Nico smiled. There was nothing he wanted more. "Yes, I think I'd like that."


	4. I Kick Major Ass

They stood in troops. In the middle of the field, adjacent to Zeus' fist, the Ares cabin lined themselves up, Clarisse at the lead screaming battle cries. Behind them, half the Athena cabin had grouped after devising a battle plan. The Apollo cabin was grouped next to them, their leader Michael Yew, serving as a buffer between the Ares and the Hephaestus cabins. (The Athena cabin preferred to have the strongest cabins scattered, so that we had equal forces in all directions.) The Hephaestus cabin was led by Jake Mason, who had set up traps all over the camp's borders.

Facing the opposite direction was the Hermes cabin, lead by the stole brothers. Behind them, the other half of the Athena cabin was braced behind Malcolm Kinsley. (Annabeth led the group on the other side) Katie Gardner and the rest of the Demeter cabin had finished muddy-ing the camp grounds so that it would be harder for the hellhounds to keep their footing. They now lined up too. The Aphrodite cabin was ready too, but they wouldn't be much help. The Poseidon and Hades cabins (consisting of the whopping total Percy and Nico) were scattered around the battlefield too. Percy was near the stream, and Nico taking comfort near the boulders that he could morph into whatever creatures he wanted too.

Then, they heard them. Soft at first, but the patter of gargantuan footsteps was unmistakable. Nico felt his stomach clench, and he prayed he wouldn't puke. Then they were louder. The ground started to shake, and the mud puddles the Demeter cabin created started to ripple. The Ares cabin notched their arrows, and the Hephaestus cabin readied their slingshots. The rest gripped their weapons too. Percy's shaking hand groped for his sword, but wasn't that much relieved at the cold metal.

Suddenly, a howl cut through the eerie silence like a knife to butter. The hellhounds were upon us. Thunder cracked above and the sky opened up and poured. "SHIT!" yelled Nico. This was a hell if an inauspicious beginning. "Dammit, Zeus! Call off your dumb-ass storm!" Nico might as well have saved his breath, because the storm only worsened. Now, golf-ball sized drops pelted the rest of the camper.

Without warning, the hellhounds broke through the magic border with a hideous CRACK! "FOR ARES!" Clarisse screamed and the rest of the camp yelled like furies. The vocalization dimmed when 17 dogs, each as big as a garbage truck emerged. An Apollo boy shot the first one in the eye with an arrow. It howled, but kept charging. Surprisingly, and Aphrodite girl stabbed it in the leg, and it twisted, separating foot from leg. The girl screamed. On the other end of the field, 6 Hephaestus boys had captured a hellhound with a massive net. They pulled with all their might. But the hellhound was too strong. Percy charged towards them and began to climb the rope. "You're fucking mad!" one Hephaestus boy yelled to Percy. But the son of Poseidon knew better. In record time he had reached the beast's throat and slit it. With one humongous swing, Percy had decapitated it.

Meanwhile, Annabeth and Michael Yew were attempting to wear down another hound, with no avail. Annabeth put on her Yankees cap and suddenly became invisible. Unfortunately, the hound could still smell her. She a few good hacks at his legs, but then the beast lowered its head, opened its snarling mouth and swallowed her. Michael shrieked in anguish. He poured all his new-found anger into strength and cut off all the hellhound's legs. Unbeknownst to him, Annabeth was currently ripping up the dogs insides. 5 minutes later she had cut through its stomach and re-emerged on the battlefield.

Nearby, another hellhound was terrorizing Pollux, a son of Dionysus. Instinctively using his powers, vines shot out of his palms and encircled the surprised dog. Pollux squeezed the vines tighter and tighter until the hound broke in half, spewing blood and organs everywhere, including on Pollux. Luckily the rain washed the waste off of him and he ran off to attend other matters.

In the mean-time, Nico was wondering the best way to handle the situation. Of course he had assisted with the defeat of one or two hellhounds (one beast had only 3 feet.) with the help of Malcolm Kinsley, But there were still at least 10 left, and the campers were beginning to tire out. He watched, wide eyed as Percy tried to drown one beast, and as a Demeter girl was able to sprout a tree right through another dog's stomach, killing it. A mega rain-drop hit him square in the face and his ADHD kicked in time to notice a huge hellhound running towards him. Nico concentrated on the ground, and felt a tugging sensation that blazed in his head and ears. He lifted his hands and the ground broke open underneath the dogs' feet, sending it tumbling into the underworld.

"Nico! HELP! Do something!" a familiar voice yelled.

He turned to his right and saw Luna Logan wielding a sword at a hellhound. She wasn't making any progress on it. Nico sprinted to her aid, surrendering to the tugging feeling in his membrane. Fire hissed at his fingertips, building a fire both within and without him. He wasn't worried about the rain dousing his fire; the powers of Hades could take on a little precipitation. The fire within him grew. Nothing was going to hurt Luna. His rage tripled the size of the fire, and Nico smiled as he thrust the flickering flames at the big black beast. Satisfaction crept over him as flames engulfed it and smoldered until it was burnt to a crisp and dead. Luna smiled a thank you, and ran off into the rain.

An epiphany ballooned in Nico's mind. He absent-mindedly raced to the middle of the battlefield, accidently colliding with a Hermes boy. Nico groped for that feeling in his head, and finally got it. He braced himself as the ground began to erupt and smoke hissed underneath his feet. The grass beneath him died. Finally, an army of skeletons emerged from the center of the battlefield. Clarisse noticed it first, and couldn't help grinning at Nico. He would never know that she saw; his eyes were closed.

After 25 skeletons were summoned from the Underworld, Nico broke the connection. He released the feeling in his mind. Thoroughly exhausted, he tried to relax, but knew he couldn't. The demigod ran off to help Percy with his hellhound.

---------------------------------------30 minutes later----------------------------------------

"Percy!" Annabeth called. "We can't hold much longer! The Hephaestus cabin's supply of Greek fire is almost out and 7 Aphrodite girls have been wounded."

"What about the Skeleton Army?" Nico asked over the howl of the rain.

"They're holding up well, seeing as they can't die. They're the only chance we've got!" Annabeth emphasized

"Not anymore" a voice said behind her. Annabeth whirled around to stand face to face with Thalia. Annabeth gasped and the two embraced.

"I wish we could've met under different circumstances, but Artemis sends her regards. The rest of the Hunters of Artemis, as well as me are prepared for battle." Thalia grinned.

Annabeth surveyed the war-torn camp-grounds. "Looks like they're already set" Annabeth pointed to 12 or so maidens with quivers and arrows attacking the remaining 5 hellhounds. "Thank you" Annabeth offered.

"Anything to help my friends" replied Thalia.

Annabeth tried to hold onto that little itch in her heart that reminded her of when she, Luke and Thalia were best friends. She wiped away a tear from her eye and turned to the battlefield just in time to see Nico send the last living hellhound to the gated of the underworld.


	5. We Humiliate An Unwelcome Visitor

Before my next chapter, I wanted to thank the following people for their comments, support, subscriptions and advice. It makes me really happy to know that you guys enjoy my fiction! I am so grateful to the following:

_FreshPress_

_Luna Jackson_

_Annabeth Supporter_

_Trekkie56_

_Melbel10_

_Cookie Demon_

_Emokid45_

_Viggs_

Now, back to my story. Enjoy! :D

It had been 3 days since the battle with the hellhounds. The buzz was all around camp, and everyone had posed unanswered questions

"Where did the hellhounds come from?" Conner Stoll asked over breakfast one morning

"Who sent them?" Katie Gardner was heard saying in the courtyard

"How do we cure the magic border?" Sherman Archet inquired during training

There were too many questions without answers. No one knew who had summoned the hellhounds or where they came from. However, the Demeter cabin busied themselves in re-landscaping the courtyard after Percy had washed it out via biggest-wave-you've-ever-seen-in-your-life.

Percy and Annabeth spent a lot of time together. According to the couple, they were researching cures for the camp's border and attempting to find the culprit who summoned the hellhounds. However, if you asked Nico di Angelo his theory, it quite contradicted this.

Yesterday Nico was walking out to the training grounds when Pollux, the son of Dionysus, asked Nico where Annabeth was.

"In the Athena cabin with Percy" he replied

"Duh!" Pollux slapped a hand to his forehead. "I kept thinking she was a daughter of Apollo or something." He shook his head violently for a second which made Nico wonder if he was okay.

"I-I'll go check for you" Nico said, looking curiously at Pollux.

He backtracked to the Athena cabin and entered. He saw two Athenian boys peering over a reference book as big as a dictionary. In the corner, a girl was immersed in a blueprint.

Nico wandered through the bookcases, passed the biographies, dictionaries, autobiographies, Reference books, cultural documentaries, atlases, and finally he saw them. But not in the state he expected. He predicted they would be hovering over some mythological documentary of surfing the web on the nearest Mac. No, they weren't researching at all.

They were kissing. Percy's lips were cradling Annabeth's and both of their eyes were closed. Percy knocked aside a thesaurus and a few charts to cup her chin in his hand. She responded by placing hers on the side of his face and stroking down to his collar-bone. She kicked aside the remaining books and slid her hands down his back. He did the same. _"What the hell is this?"_ Nico thought. His eyes widened with astonishment as Annabeth traced the v-neck collar on Percy's shirt. Then Percy slid his hand up Annabeth's shirt. She giggled shamelessly and Nico had to clap a hand to his mouth to keep from gasping out loud. Percy slid his tongue between Annabeth's lips. Her hands crept lower and lower grazing the bulge in his jeans. She groped at the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Even though their lips were separated, they didn't miss a beat. They went right back to mackin' on each other. Percy's bare chest was soon covered with Annabeth's hands. _"Damn!" _Nico almost said aloud _"A few more minutes and they'll be freakin having sex!"_ Sure enough, Percy laid Annabeth down and began to roll her shirt up. "Stop" she moaned "No," she sat up pushing him up with a hand to his bare chest. "Don't forget that I can still kick your butt, Seaweed Brain." She giggled.

Nico darted out of the room before he could be noticed. _"So this is why no two campers of opposite genders can be in the same room together!" _Nico thought as he almost ran into Pollux, who, up till then, had been pacing the halls.

"Well?" he cocked his head to one side. "Was she there?"

"No" Nico said and swallowed at the lie, hard.

"Oh, well thanks err, for your help" Pollux ran awkwardly in the opposite direction.

Nico trudged to the training grounds, trying not to think about what he had just witnessed. Did he like what he just saw? That was hard to say. Sure, he liked the idea of making out with someone he liked, but Percy and Annabeth? Yeah, he knew they liked each other, but he hadn't expected to see such an erotic display. He remembered how he wanted a relationship, and a thought dawned on him. He could ask Luna Logan out on a date. _"Yes" _he decided. _"I'll ask her out after practice" _

A sword tip hit Nico's shoulder. "You wanna go Death Head?" A joking voice said behind him. The owner was Malcolm Kinsley, a friend and frequent training partner of Nico's.

"Oh, you're on!" Nico grinned

"Take that!" Malcolm thrust his blade. Nico swung his blade around and Malcolm's swerved off course. Nico lunged, and Malcolm ducked, attempting a slash at Nico's feet. CLANK! The flat part of Nico's blade slapped Malcolm's hand to the ground, interrupting Malcolm's slash attempt. "Shit! That was sick!" Malcolm complemented.

"Take that, cocksucker!" Nico kicked, and Malcolm was sent sprawling on the ground.

"Alright, you win, dammit!" Malcolm said and jumped to his feet and laughing. This time, Nico took the first stab, which Malcolm easily dodged. He lunged at Nico, and Nico parried. Malcolm counter-parried, to the approval of the nearby Chiron.

"Impressive, boys." Commented the centaur.

"Take that, cuntface" Nico jabbed at Malcolm's throat and Malcolm flicked it away with his sword. Seizing the moment, Malcolm stabbed at Nico's stomach. Nico knew he had been beaten.

"Suck it, bitch!" Malcolm said in a mock-gangster tone. Both boys laughed.

"1-1" Nico remarked. "What do you say to a rematch? Best 2 out of 3?"

Malcolm didn't have time to answer. A fury of wind blew at the training campers. No one moved. It was a strong wind. Then, the gust picked up and a chariot sprung out of the blackened whirlwind. A shriek pierced the vulnerable silence and Eris, the goddess of discord emerged.

"Shit." Clarisse muttered nearby. "She always accompanies Ares."

Sure enough, out popped Ares wearing his motorcycle jacket and leather pants. Nico noted that the two Gods were not their usual size. They had shrunk to only 15 feet high.

"Well, well" Ares chuckled. "Seems you got my little present. Just came to check on that." A smug grin spread across Ares' smug face. Half of the camper's probably wished they could slap that grin off his face; Ares wasn't exactly popular.

"What do you want Ares?" Chiron was surprisingly impatient.

"Oh, I was only helping" Ares continued. "Seems to me a little extra training couldn't hurt." His evil eyes narrowed. "And hellhounds provide wonderful learning opportunities".

"It was YOU!" Clarisse accused, notching an arrow. "You summoned the hellhounds you slimy fucking bastard!" she yelled to Ares.

Clarisse shot the arrow and it landed perfectly… in Ares' groin. The camp was too stunned at her audacity to laugh.

Ares screamed a formidable scream to Eris' earlier one. He raised his hand and smacked Clarisse square across the face. One bone-shattering CRACK! Later and the said Clarisse passed out on the ground.

With the arrow still lodged between in his pelvis, Ares lumbered to the chariot. He was so mad his ears were literally emitting steam. Eris shrieked and the chariot took off in a cloud of wind.

For a minute, nobody moved. Eventually, Chiron turned to Annabeth.

"Get Clarisse to safety and give her nectar and ambrosia. Check to see if her neck is broken."

"Yes sir" she nodded and carried Clarisse off with the help of two other campers.

"Oh!" Percy gasped. "Chiron, that's why Ares wasn't in my dream!"

Chiron nodded. Then, someone laughed. The laughter spread to one person, two, four, seven, and soon enough everyone was laughing at Ares' humiliation. The laughter died and Chiron informed the camp that he would 'talk to Mr. D about the culprit of the hellhound incident'.

The campers began to put their training gear away. Nico looked for Luna, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. He was, after all planning to ask her out. At last he spotted her talking to Michael Yew from the Apollo cabin. _"Michael Yew? Isn't he dead?_" It was true; everyone assumed that he was dead after no one could find his body after the battle with Kronos; they all assumed he was dead. What Nico didn't know was that Michael had made his way back to Camp Half-Blood on a Pegasus and was very much alive.

Nico got in earshot of them in time to hear Michael say:

"So, it's a date?"

"It's a date, Michael" Luna confirmed smiling the most beautiful smile Nico had ever seen. A smile that damn near broke his heart. 


	6. A Daring Deed Drains Demeter's Daughter

Nico di Angelo hadn't come out of the Hades cabin for almost 2 days. No one knew if he had eaten, if he was sick, no one knew anything. Nico, however, knew better. He in fact hadn't eaten. Not out of spite, he plain wasn't hungry. Love can do that to you sometimes. He knew people probably wondered about him. They probably thought he was sick with pneumonia or tuberculosis or fucking Bubonic Plague. He didn't care, nor did he want to care.

Nico got up and walked to the bathroom. He didn't glance at the mirror for fear of the truth it would tell. Instead he grabbed the razor he was too young for, and sliced it swiftly across his wrist. The first cut stung. He ignored the pain, and gasped aloud at the pain and beauty of the fresh cut. He cut another, than two three and four. He sat in a daze, watching the scarlet blood flow down his arm. He wasn't harming himself out of anger, he was just….breathing. Nico was bleeding to know that he was still alive.

When he finally cleaned up all the blood, he went back to his bed. Nico was in a state where you just let things happen. Nico had give up trying to accept the fact that he couldn't have Luna, and he wasn't planning on trying to get her anymore. Michael Yew had beaten him to the Punch. He wasn't mad at Michael, (how was he supposed to know that Luna was diggin' the Asian Apollo dudes?) Because it wasn't really Michaels fault. That meant he wasn't really mad a Luna either. However, he couldn't pin the blame n himself as well. So who was at fault? He didn't know. He didn't care either. With all these conclusions warped into his love-sick mind, Nico drifted to sleep.

He dreamed he was kissing Luna. Her soft lips were connected with his, the taste of creamy peaches floating into his mouth, sliding his tongue along her teeth. He dreamed of holding her and never letting her go. He dreamed of just being with her, ignoring time so that they could be one. When he woke up, but the sweet dreams didn't soften the ache in his heart, when reality set back in.

Outside in Camp Half-Blood, Percy and Annabeth wondered about Nico. Once, Annabeth had tried to open the door and talk to him, but the door was locked. Eventually they gave up. "He will have to come out sooner or later" Annabeth said one time. Instead of spending all their energy failing to help Nico, The power couple directed their focus to healing the magic border. Annabeth, being the genius that she was, had found out that the power of the Golden Fleece could be extracted from Thalia's tree and the magic converted into saving the border. "The extracting had to be done by an Earth-Healer" her notes read, which must have meant a child of Demeter would have to do the job.

One by one, Annabeth mentally singled out each Demeter child at Camp Half-Blood until only Katie Gardner was left. She was the leader of the Demeter cabin and had the best knowledge of her powers.

"Katie" Annabeth asked after breakfast

"What's up?"

"Well, I think I've got a way to fix the magic border-"

"Really? How?" Katie cut her off.

Annabeth explained about the extracting of the Golden Fleece, and how a daughter of Demeter had to do it.

"Wait, are you asking me to do it?" Katie asked, getting excited

"Only if you're willing. It may drain your strength for days. There isn't much information on extracting the powers of the Golden Fleece; no one has ever done it before. You would be the first."

"So cool..." Katie breathed.

"So…" Annabeth prodded "are you in?"

"Absolutely! When do we do it?"

"How about after lunch today. You'll have more energy after you've eaten."

"Okay! I'll meet you by Thalia's tree then."

The two departed, feeling like a million bucks.

"Do we _have _to go through the instructions _again_?" Katie whined.

"Do you want to this right?" was Annabeth's rhetorical reply.

Not far away, Percy was playing with grass. It was nearly 1:00, and they had been going over the procedure since 12:30. For what felt like the 80th time, Annabeth read the directions.

"First summon your powers by concentrating on the Earth. Then, concentrate on the object in front of you-that would be Thalia's tree in this case-and pull at it mentally with your powers. You might experience pain in this step." Katie sighed and continued for Annabeth.

"Next focus on the object you are trying to convert the magic to. Feel the flow of energy from your mind to your hands and let the energy flow out of your palms. If you break your concentration the extraction and conversion will fail yadda yadda ya…."

"You think this is funny?" Annabeth scowled. "The protection of the camp lies in this border and your acting as if it's all a game!"

"Alright" Katie heaved another sigh. Then, as if possessed, Katie summoned her powers. It began gradually from the earth, her life source. The roots of the grass seemed to convey their strength into hers as did the flowers and the trees. She opened her eyes and narrowed in on Thalia's tree. She concentrated, hard, half out of spite and the other half determination. As directed, Katie pulled mentally with her powers. As predicted, it hurt. She felt as if a rope had wound itself around the core of her brain and was playing tug of war. It tugged at her, like an invisible hand, groping for any sign of a mental struggle. Katie took advantage when the pain began to cease, and flung her arms toward the camp border, right at the entrance. The pain was worsened. The flow of magic energy washed through her, beginning with Thalia's tree and tugging at her mind, flowing into the invisible border. This time the pulling was sharper, more acute, as if it had purpose. Migraines were nothing compared to this, but Katie would not give up. When the energy began to flow out of her hands, it felt like someone had stabbed through them with a butcher's knife she could see shimmers of gold, thin as dust trailing out of her palms. Remembering that she had to concentrate on the border, Katie directed her gaze at the entrance. This made the pain only throb more. Now it had spread to her feet. The earth was being drained, all the plants giving her their last strength. A tree no less than 5 feet away began to drop its yellow, sick leaves raining a shower of its remnants. The grass around her began to shrivel and die, turning crusty and brown. The searing pain fired up her legs, through her hips and up to her spine, sparking every nerve ending she possessed. Whether or not she screamed, she couldn't tell. Katie felt like her entire body was being mercilessly scorched and that any moment her eye-sockets would bulge out from the pressure. She tried to withstand it, but it was no use. With one final push she squeezed all her power toward the border, and collapsed on the ground. The magic propelled her back with such force that she fell two feet away from where she had just been stationed. The instant she hit the leafy green grass, it died around her, forming a silhouette. Annabeth screamed and Percy ran to her aid. Together they carried the hero back to camp.

Back inside the Hades cabin, Nico had gone back to bed. Sleep was the only thing that separated him from his agony. When he woke up again, there was a fireplace in the wall in adjacent to his summoning pit. Then, with a faint pop, the goddess Hestia was seated next to the fireplace. She pretended not to notice Nico and prodded the flames. Meanwhile the demigod was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, but no matter how much he rubbed, Hestia didn't go away. "This must mean that she is real" Nico concluded.

"Hestia?" he smiled "What are you doing here?"

The goddess herself smiled, brightening her rosy cheeks. "I can always tell when something is not right in your home, Nico." Her voice was like silk, slippery smooth and altogether wonderful.

"Why me?"

"Do you remember the first time you came to camp? You were 10 years old, innocent, with a charm so subtle that most don't see it. You were observant, and you stopped at my hearth to talk to me. Only a handful of heroes have ever done that, and none within the last century. Therefore, we have a, well, unique connection I guess."

Nico studied the look in her eyes. It was warm, but he couldn't tell whether it was filled with compassion or sorrow from all that she had seen.

"Here" she said removing a silver chained necklace from her elegant neck. "Take this" she got up, her petite 5-2 frame draped with a silky toga that dragged on the floor. Her perfect red-orange curls were secured in a ponytail by a golden clip. She was breathtaking. Hestia smiled her sweet smile as she clasped the necklace behind Nico's neck. It hung down to reveal an Ace of spades with a skull in the center. He liked it. As If reading hi mind she said "I thought you would like it." Hestia paused and continued.

"Whenever your heart is hurting, press the skull. It will give you knowledge, understanding or whatever you may need. But don't look too hard, some may be more subtly given."

"Thank you, Lady Hestia."

"But remember, don't abuse its powers."

Nico recalled all the heroes that had abused a gift that a God or Goddess had bequeathed them.

"Oh, and I thought you might like the hearth."

Nico looked at the fireplace that hadn't been there before he woke up. He turned back to thank her, but she was already gone, leaving Nico with a warm feeling in his heart he hadn't felt for years.

Luna Logan looked at herself in the mirror, and frowned with disgust. She yanked out her makeup case, which could have covered every face on the Dior runway for the next 10 years. She applied her usual toner, blush, bronzer, but she was feeling daring. She gravitated toward blue mascara and brown eyeliner. The color combo made her eyes pop with animation. Slightly more satisfied she opened her hair curler drawer and grabbed out her Helen of Troy 1 inch, 1 ½ inch and 2 inch barrels. Luna plugged them all in. She opened a smaller drawer attached to her mirror that was filled with styling clips. She separated her hair into its layers and pinned them all up except for the bottom layer. While waiting for her curlers to heat up, Luna applied primrose eye shadow with a hint of violet sparkle. Finally, the Helen of Troy's were ready. She picked up the 2 inch one first and wrapped a lock around its barrel. She did this with the entire bottom layer, each lock bending to the rotation of the wand. She was so skilled and practiced that she could do the back without looking. She unclipped the second layer and twirled the locks around her 1 ½ barrel, showering each piece with scent-free hairspray. "So far, so good" she thought. When she arrived at the top layer, she meticulously curled by locks, and even held the hairspray can at a certain angle to ensure the best results. After nearly an hour, her hair was curled. As usual, it was perfect from root to tip. But she wasn't done yet. Luna reached for a bobby pin, but her hand caught on the drawer, scattering golden pins across her vanity table. "Crap" she muttered and scooped them back into place. After she got a hold of a bobby pin, she stuck it in her hair so her curls were pushed up and around her ear. She did the same on the other side. Luna admired her hair for an instant, and then walked to her wardrobe.

Her wardrobe actually was a wardrobe. It was 12 feet high and 16 feet long. As you can imagine, the Aphrodite cabin was HUGE. Luna climbed into the wardrobe-it was that big-and skirted over to the casual dress section. After about 30 minutes of contemplation, she finally decided on a lavender halter dress that had flowers printed on it. "Not too dressy, not too casual" she reasoned with herself. She slipped into the dress and walked out of the wardrobe. Now for shoes.

Luna hustled to the side of her monstrous wardrobe and pulled on a lever that revealed a shoe rack. The rack fell down like an ironing board in an old movie. Underneath one rack another one could be pulled out and another and another. Luna sorted them into sandals, flats, small heels, high heels, platforms, booties, boots, winter boots, sneakers, and converse. Luna skimmed over the sandals and concentrated on the flats. Her hand stopped on her favorite pair-gold with little bows on them. She slipped them on and they fit like a glove-or a shoe, for that matter. Now Luna was ready for her date with Michael Yew.

Michael met her out in front of the Aphrodite Cabin. "Wow" he breathed placing a hand in the small of her back and walking her out towards the courtyard.

"You look amazing"

"I try" Luna nonchalantly twirled a lock of hair. "Where are we going?"

"I thought we would go out to the beach." He answered

"To swim!" she was horrified

"No silly, just to sit. I have something special prepared."

When they reached the beach, Michael instructed her to close her eyes. She complied and he walked her foreword and sat her down on a chair.

"Ok, you can open your eyes now"

Luna did, and gasped in awe of what was in front of her. A dining table, maybe 4 feet long was in front of her. Purple tablecloths lined the mahogany wood and dishes of food covered it from end to end. At the tip of her hand was a golden fork, knife, and on the other side, a spoon. A goblet that would fill itself with whatever drink she wanted lay in front of her as well. She admired the food, and wondered how it all got here. In the middle of the table, a three pronged candelabra was lit. It was the most romantic thing she had ever seen.

"I…I don't know what to say" she said, shocked.

Michael took a harp out of nowhere and began to serenade her. She watched his articulate fingers grace the strings if the golden instrument. She looked down at her empty plate, and a note appeared. She picked it up. It was a haiku.

_To Luna Logan_

_I love you so very much_

_Yours truly, Michael_

"Aww" she cooed and embraced him. "Thank you"

Michael blushed. "Let's eat"

And that they did. Luna piled her plate with chicken casserole, sweet potatoes, tomato soup, garlic bread, peas, and everything else in sight. They are, talked and enjoyed each other's company. Neither one of them had felt this before, and Luna felt equally frightened and grateful.

When they finished dinner, and desert they sat down on the sand. Michael wrapped his arm around her, and she rested her head on his chest. "You know, I've never felt this way before" Luna said, smiling at the stars. "Me neither" Michael answered. Luna pulled back slightly to look into his big blue eyes, and he did the same. As if one, they moved in, and Luna cocked her head to the side. Their lips were millimeters apart and neither one of them moved. Abruptly, a shriek rang out, and a fury of black Harpies flew toward them.

"Harpies!" Michael cried. He was terrified. "We must have passed the camp border!" he groped for her hand, and found it. He tried to pull her along back to camp, just as a Harpy crashed through the table he had meticulously set. Food drinks and glass littered the beach. Luna tried to run, but her foot was stuck in the sand "C'mon!" Michael yelled over the racket. A harpy flew within 2 inches of his nose. He staggered back. One flew directly at his face and cried. "SQUAK!" Michael screamed and ran as fast as he could, scrambling away from the beach. Meanwhile, Luna had gotten her foot out of the sand. Suddenly, a harpy flew so close its massive wing knocked a pin out of her hair. Another one's claws snatches at her dress, tearing it and he ski underneath. Luna screamed and clutched her leg. When she retracted it, her hand was scarlet. "Michael!" she yelled, desperate for help. He was nowhere to be found. She tried to run towards the beach, but she couldn't see in the mass of black feathers. There must have been 30 harpies. One's claws raked her shoulder and another pecked at her head. She swung her arms wildly, but couldn't get in a good swing. She screamed again, but it was all in vain. The flapping around her increased. Then, a harpy flew straight into her chest, sending her sprawling back…..into the ocean. "AHHHHHHHHUUGGGHHH!" Luna yelled, madder than hell. She tried to stand up, but a wave was picking up momentum behind her. When she finally got her footing, it crashed down on her, sucking her down onto the ocean floor. Luckily it was shallow enough to where she could stand back up. When she did, she yelled and kicked the water that waded at her ankles. She walked onto the beach, her dress sticking to her skin. Her hair was a mess, and it slapped her in the back when she turned her head. It had lost all its curl. Her favorite shoes were nowhere to be found, and her leg and shoulder throbbed as the salt seeped into her wounds. She tried picking the loose sediment and small shells from her skin, but some were lodged in too deep. She cried again in anguish and wiped the mass of running makeup on her face. She looked like shit and wasn't feeling any better either.

Slowly she made her way back to the Aphrodite cabin. She walked in and slammed the door. All of her friends were waiting to hear about the date. When they saw her condition their faces fell from eagerness to concern.

"What the hell happened to you?" her friend and sister Sophia asked

"You look awful!" said Kenzie, another sister/friend

Her friends fired questions at her, and finally she told them the story. They were appalled.

"What a douche bag!" said Sophia.

"That bastard! I can't believe he would just leave you! Kenzie gasped.

"He sooo doesn't deserve you honey." Rashod, the gay Aphrodite guy said.

One by one they offered her support and advise.

"What I would really like now, is a shower." Luna said. And that's what she did. After that, Sophia helped pick out all the shells from her skin and cleaned her up further. Kenzie gave her nectar and ambrosia. Together, the 3 friends and the rest of the cabin talked about what Luna should do about Michael Yew.


	7. I Am Seen In The Buff

The following day, Michael attempted to flag Luna down, but she paid him no attention. Every time he even looked at her, she would turn away, which made Michael desire her more, and his heart throb worse. He was sorry for what he did the other night, and it wasn't exactly forgivable, but he could still try. Finally, he saw her in the corridor and stopped her buy grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Luna, you need to listen." His grip was hard on Luna, irritating her shoulder wound from the harpy.

"Stop it" she said

"No, you need to listen to me"

"Let me go!"

"No, Luna--"

"Get the hell off of me!"

"Just listen for one damn minu--"

"It hurts, Now LET ME GO!"

Luna, desperate to be free kicked a clear shot to Michael's groin. She nailed him partly out of anger, and because it was killing her shoulder. He released with a yelp and she sped off, trying not to think about what she had just done.

Later that day, right before lunch, Michael tried again. He didn't grab her, nor command her to do anything. He simply said:

"Luna, honey, I know you're mad, and you have a right to be, but please, please listen to what I need to say to you."

Luna stopped, and turned around to face him.

"What?" she said with no expression.

"I'm really sorry about what happened the other night, and I deserve your anger. I shouldn't have just left you there. I'm a coward, but I know I can be better than that. What we felt last night was really special, and I want it to happen again. Please Luna, please forgive me."

Deep down, Luna knew she wanted to say she forgave him, but she couldn't. She didn't know what she felt, why, or how to handle herself. She tasted salt in her mouth and realized she was crying. Without saying a word, Luna Logan walked away.

Luna kept walking, and waited until he couldn't hear her anymore. She sat down on the courtyard where no one could see her, and began to cry. She cried for Michael, for herself, and for everything that she felt. After 10 minute of this, Luna picked herself up, wiped the tears from her eyes and kept walking. She knew she looked like shit, but she didn't care. Everyone was at lunch now, so Luna didn't expect to see anyone in the training area. Instead, Nico di Angelo was wielding a sword at a practice dummy. Sweat flew from his brow, and each swing demonstrated massive power. It was no secret that he had recently bathed in the River of Styx, so his swordsman skills had improved.

Luna found herself in awe of his craft at wielding a sword, but didn't know why. After all, it was just Nico. She had met him only once in her life. She subconsciously held her breath as she watched the demigod remove his black shirt, revealing muscled formidable to Percy's. In the moment, Luna could imagine herself tracing every line of his perfect abs, stroking his bulging biceps…..

Suddenly he noticed her, mid swing. "_It_ _couldn't be more perfect"_ he thought. _"The hottest girl I know is watching me train with my shirt off looking totally buff"_ Nico silently congratulated himself on his display.

"Well, hey there" he said shaking his soaked hair out of his eyes.

Luna couldn't move. She managed a "hi"

"What are you doing here?"

Luna heard the words come out of her mouth before they registered in her mind. She was telling Nico about her fight with Michael, and then about the date, and how it had gone horridly wrong. When she finished her tale, she was sitting next to Nico wondering how she got there.

"Well, seems to me that this relationship is off to a wonderful start" he said sarcastically, smiling his boyish grin.

"_Oh my gods, he is so cue and charming and perfect…"_ Luna couldn't speak

Nico picked up his water bottle and took a swig. He held it out to her, breaking the tension. "Water?"

Without a second thought, Luna took the bottle and drank, savoring the taste of his lips.

"Well' Nico started. "If things don't work out between you two, I'm always available" The boyish grin Luna loved found its way to Nico's face again.

Luna smiled in return, "Thanks" she said "I'll keep that in mind" she tried to not sound absolutely love struck.

The two parted, and Luna raced to the Aphrodite cabin. Her sisters were all polishing their lips with gloss. "Kenzie, Sophia, I have a problem." Luna said trying to hide her excitement.

"What?" they said in unison, eager for juicy gossip.

"So, Michael apologized and asked me to forgive him, right?"

Kenzie and Sophia nodded.

"And I walked away, right"

Same reaction.

"So then I saw Nico, training and he took his shirt off and I was practically drooling because h looked sooooo hoootttttt." She cooed

"Wait, Nico di Angelo? Hot?" Kenzie said

"Do you feel okay?" Sophia said.

"Yeah and then I told him about Michael and what happened and our fights and then we shared water…" Luna trailed off dreamily.

Both Kenzie and Sophia saw where this was headed.

"So Michael asked you back out--" Kenzie started

"But you like, totally like Nico." Sophia finished. The two sisters turned towards each other.

"Oh. My. Gods." They said in unison.

"So what do I do?" Luna asked.

"Well, I think you should dump dickface Michael" Sophia said disgustedly

"And totally go out with Nico, but I don't see why he is so hot." Kenzie twirled her perfect blonde hair.

Both of their voices were so valley girl, only Aphrodite girls could stand them. Kenzie was a total air head, and Sophia didn't have that much brains. No sooner than Luna thought this, Kenzie turns t Sophia and said:

"Did you know dolphins are just gay sharks?"

"Really?"

Kenzie nodded.

Luna walked out of the room, knowing their advice wasn't worth 2 cents in Canada. To Luna's dismay, Michael was standing not 3 feet away from her.

"Luna, please just answer me" He spoke before the poor girl could catch her breath. "I just want one more chance"

He looked so pitiful. It was just as she had read, and heard about. The boy makes a stupid mistake, the girl cries her heart out and vows never to see him again, and he comes crawling back for forgiveness. It was so cliché. Then without thinking, Luna opened her dainty mouth and said

"Yes"

Nico walked into breakfast the next day after checking on Clarisse and Katie Gardner. Clarisse had a broken neck and Spinal injury from the massive slap she received from her father. The nectar and ambrosia was kicking in and she was now able to walk. Within another few weeks she would be back to normal. Nico thought nothing of the quick recovery time; demigods were extraordinary.

He looked into Katie Gardner's recovery as well. After all, she had saved the entire camp, practically, so she at least deserved a visit. It was probably boring as hell in there, and to make matters worse, Annabeth never left her side. She must have felt responsible or something. Annabeth had informed Nico that within the next 5 days Katie would be up and running again.

Now, when Nico walks into breakfast he has to pass the Aphrodite table in order to get to the lonely Hades table. This time instead of hearing that Maybelline had created a new pastel eyeliner he overheard this:

"Luna, you said yes, and now you have to deal with it!"

"But Kenzie, I don't like him! How am I supposed to tell him that?"

Nico stopped cold in his tracks. Were they talking about him?

"Luna, the boy came crawling back to you. He's a scum and he doesn't deserve you."

Nico? A scum? He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"But I don't want to break his heart!" Luna continued

"Who cares?" Sophia countered.

Nico had heard enough. He couldn't believe what they were saying. He immediately exited the breakfast area and headed to the training grounds. He needed to think, and he wasn't hungry anymore. Training was the only way to keep his mind off his troubles.

But if he had just stayed for 1 more minute he would have heard this:

"Alright Sophia, I'll go tell him." Luna reluctantly got up and moved her way to the Apollo table. When she got there she listened to Michael telling one of his brothers

"Yeah man, I'm so excited about my date on Friday!"

Luna sucked in a sharp breath. "Michael we need to talk"

"Sure, watcha need?"

"No, we need to talk in private."

Michael and his brother exchanged a bewildered look. When the couple was alone Michael said

"So what's up?" he seemed concerned but relaxed

"I…I…I umm…" Luna couldn't push the words off her tongue.

"shhh" Michael said softly and tilted his head to one side. His lips were so close to Luna's that she could almost taste them.

"no no no." Luna said frightened. Maybe it was the shock that he wanted to kiss her that forced her to say what she did.

"Michael, stop. I can't see you anymore." She put her hands between the two of them like a barrier.

"I just can't."

For what felt like the 100th time, she walked away from Michael Yew. But this time, she wouldn't come back.


	8. We Are Busted

Nico didn't know why, but he heard a knock at his cabin door.

"Coming" his exasperated voice replied.

When he opened the door he saw the last person he wanted to see. Luna Logan. Unbeknownst to him, she had just broken up with Michael. She barley had enough time to take in his black v-neck shirt and tan muscular arms when his cold gaze lock with hers and he slammed the door in her face. Her reflexes caused her foot to wedge between the door and its momentum was interrupted. It left the door cracked open a little; just enough for her to see half of his face.

"Can I come in?" she couldn't imagine why he was so upset.

"Why? To mock me more than you have already?"

She hadn't the slightest clue what he was talking about.

"I never mocked you" she said softly

"Oh really?" was his sarcastic reply

"I promise, I didn't"

Something inside him softened. He opened the door a little to reveal her pleading eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nico" her calm voice soothed him. The innocence in her eyes was unambiguous.

The demigod licked his lips. He knew his fatal flaw was holding grudges, and this one was holding its ground.

"Breakfast. Yesterday." he accused "You told your little posy of beauty queens that you don't like me and that I'm a scum." He spat the words at her.

"Nico, no I never-"she reached out an arm to console him but he flinched away. His cold icy gaze penetrated her soft innocent look. Then, abruptly it hit her. She gasped aloud.

"No, Nico we weren't talking about you!"

He couldn't deny her honesty. He looked at her.

"Remember when I told you about my horrible date with Michael Yew? Well, he asked me back out and I didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that I don't like him. My friends were saying he was a scum because of what he did to me. It wasn't you I swear!"

"For real?"

"Nico, I wouldn't lie to you. Ever" their eyes met in a state of affection. Nico was the first to speak.

"So….why did you come here?"

Luna looked down and blushed. "Well, I came here to see...um…if you…I wanted to know Well" She fiddled with her thumbs and finally mustered up the courage to say:

"Are you still up on that offer?"

"You mean the date" the corners of his lips couldn't help smiling

"Well, yeah"

"_Oh, fuck the grudge" _he thought "yeah, the deal is still on. How's Friday night?"

"_Two days away"_ Luna calculated. "Perfect."

"I'll pick you up at your cabin at 8:00"

"It's a date" she smiled as did he.

Neither one of them moved. Nico made a few awkward gestures as did she.

"I…I should go" she aimed her thumbs at the door

"G'night" he held up his hand to wave.

Nico watched her leave and he flung himself on his bed. Was it a month ago that he had laid in this same spot wondering how to score a date with Luna Logan? Well nothing could stop him now. He was so gleeful he felt like doing somersaults. He jumped up and down on his bed. He flipped off and landed on the ground. He cried out in joy. Nico was so happy he could have lassoed the moon. And part of the reason he was so happy? He couldn't remember ever feeling this way.

He never wanted it to end.

Friday came, and the anticipation was so thick between Luna and Nico you could taste it. Nico got dressed around 7:45 (it wasn't anything special; just his usual black apparel) and even combed his hair. He was so excited he stared at the clock for 5 whole minutes willing it to go faster.

Luna on the other hand began getting ready around 6:45. She looked in the mirror as she always did and frowned. The usual: blush, toner, bronzer. Check. But tonight was a date night. She crayoned her eyes with liner and painted on eye shadow. Next she fired up her 2 flat irons and popped out her straightening serum. (In case you're wondering, a girl can NAWT have too many beauty products.) She completed her eyes and tapped an OPI glossed nail against her irons. Nope, not nearly hot enough yet. As always there was something for her to do, so she decided to tackle her wardrobe. Luna graced over everything until she reached her dresses. Her gussied-up eyes narrowed in on a sea-green vintage Valentino frock. Bingo.

Finally, the straighteners were ready. Luna steeled herself as she started to work on the pièce de résistance. She alternated between her 2 weapons of choice as she battled steadily on with her sea of chestnut waves. As she unclipped each layer one by one, she'd reestablish her previous work with a spray of Frederic Fekkai Sheer Hold. Luna's glossed grin grew as her hair gave in to the dominating will of the master. At last Luna was finished. She let her pink lips curve into a smile as she approved of the girl looking back at her in the mirror. Those not blessed with the sensitive eyes of Aphrodite would call it beauty.

Nico picked the beauty queen up promptly at eight and neither one bothered to conceal their excitement. They walked down to the little river hand I hand until finally they were out of sight. This wasn't a typical first date; both had eaten. The couple decided to sit and talk. Yes, to most this would be boring. But to two people who loved each other? They wanted nothing more in the world than to spend time together. Nico told her about his mom, his sister and his dad, and the quest he had accompanied Percy on. In return she offered stories of her dad, and late sister. She wished very much to meet her mom, she told him, but at the same time knew that it may never happen.

Luna settled comfortably onto Nico, her head resting against his strong chest. He wrapped an arm around her and the two sat in silence, simply enjoying the moment that people search their entire lives and never have.

Then, from behind them came a cough. Luna shot off his chest and Nico leaped to his feet, out of both fright and annoyance._ "If this is some practical joke I'm gonna knock the shit out of the little son of a-" _Nico thought. His threat was cut short when he saw Chiron, who didn't appear to be amused with the situation.

"Well, this is interesting" he said in a coy manner. It was so out of character Nico almost laughed aloud.

"Why don't you follow me?" Chiron turned around and began walking toward his headquarters. Luna gave Nico a nervous glance and Nico shrugged back. The couple began walking behind him, but they didn't bother to keep their distance from each other.

When they finally reached Chiron's quarters he offered them a seat and he sat as well. For a second, Nico wondered how mad he actually was.

"As you know, Mr. di Angelo and Ms. Logan, it is against camp policy to be out after curfew."

They nodded nervously.

"And as it seems, I have caught the two of you alone after curfew."

Again, the nods. Then miraculously Chiron's tone switched and he began to laugh.

"Every year I try to crack down on policy, but I just can't bring myself to enforce my punishments." The centaur laughed.

"Wait, so we're not in trouble?" Luna asked gingerly

"No, I guess not. Just don't let me catch you again." Chiron winked

The couple exhaled a sigh of relief and thanked him. They decided to just go back to their cabins. Nico walked Luna to hers. They stood facing each other, unable to part.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight" Nico said

"Umm, yeah I guess so" Luna nodded.

Nico looked into her big blue eyes, and immediately fell under their mesmerizing spell. He began to lean in and her head complied. There was no second guessing, just being in the moment. Their lips met in silent surrender, her silky, lush lips melting into his, fitting perfectly. He let his hands hug her around the waist and she slid hers behind his neck. The moment of euphoria they shared as so unique, they couldn't stop. At last they did and they stood there, enchanted, sucking in every detail of the moment that would last them a lifetime.

"I Love you" Luna breathed

"I love you too." Nico said, and he meant it with all his heart.


	9. I Am Hit With Rocks

The next day Nico and Luna walked into breakfast holding hands. Every head in the room turned, and within 5 minutes it was the talk of the camp.

"Aren't Nico and Luna just the cuuutest thing?" and Aphrodite girl commented

"Wow, Nico! Nice catch!" Travis Stoll congratulated them

"Holy Zeus, Luna and Nico?" Katie Gardner smiled at the daughter of Aphrodite.

"Sweet, Nico!" Percy clapped him on the back.

"Well, looks like we got ourselves a new set of lovebirds!"

Clarisse stood in the doorway. Needless to say, it was a warm welcome for both the healed Clarisse and the new couple. Lots of cheering and clapping followed, now that everyone in camp was healed. Clarisse was showered with complements from fellow demigods about her bravery and audacity towards her father. Breakfast lasted a little longer than usual, because the camp was catching Clarisse up on the events while she was recovering, and on the other hand, the campers were being informed about the newest "power couple". Luna gushed every time she talked about Nico, and he spoke about her with doting pride. The only one not overjoyed at Nico and Luna was Michael Yew, but no one paid his sour attitude much attention. They were too busy celebrating. They didn't know it now, but these would be the happiest moments the couple would ever share with the camp.

Later that day during sword practice, Nico and Malcolm trained together. Usually, the two were a formidable match for the other, but today Malcolm beat him three times in a row. Malcolm would lunge at him, and Nico would parry the wrong way to catch a glimpse of Luna. Then he would thrust back, and Malcolm easily deflected him. Once, Malcolm knocked him over when Nico miscalculated his swing.

"Dude, what's fuckin' with you today?"

Nico didn't hear him at first; he was gazing at his girlfriend. Malcolm followed his gaze.

"Ahh" he understood "You've been bitten by the love bug" Malcolm teased and poked Nico in the sides.

"Hey!" Nico came back to reality and swung his sword at Malcolm. It caught his partner's hand, and the blood trickled down the hilt of his weapon.

"HA!" he exclaimed triumphantly

"Oh, you're so dead!" Malcolm laughed.

The two battled it out, but Malcolm still whipped the distracted Nico. There was no doubt; the spell of Aphrodite had captured the son of Hades.

So the days went by. Nico and Luna went out every Friday. Well, they didn't exactly go anywhere. Their dates consisted of dinner that Nico would conjure up and conversation, and just plain spending time with each other. Neither one was interested in the sexual aspect of the relationship, but they both enjoyed the sporadic kisses.

The eve before their fourth date Nico lay awake wondering why it was going so fast. After all, he had heard that teenage relationships were awkward and encompassed allot of making out. He reasoned that maybe he and Luna were different, but couldn't understand why. Then a thought struck him. He pulled out of his shirt the necklace Hestia had bequeathed to him. He pressed his thumb and forefinger to the skull. Immediately he closed his eyes as a feeling of deep relaxation washed over him. He felt all the tension is his body smooth away, like a massage. Then he saw through closed eyes a wispy golden-brown cloud seep into his forehead. Slowly it crept through every nerve ending in his body, and gave him the feeling of relief. When he opened his eyes he saw everything in a new light. He now knew that things were going so fast with Luna because they truly loved each other. Michael had been acting glum because Luna had broken his heart, and a million other things no one else understood. Relieved and relaxed Nico lay down and drifted off to sleep.

Friday night marked their fourth date, one moth of courtship. Nico had prepared something special for their mini anniversary. He had decorated the fountain at their favorite spot with flower petals. He laid out little candles on their table so that the flames spelled out "I love you" He has also Iris-messaged Thalia, Hunter of Artemis and asked if she would send him a fresh quail. She did, fully cooked and decorated. He also asked Katie Gardner to borrow some of her fruit harvest. When the table was completed, it looked as if it was fit for the Gods.

Luna arrived right at seven, and smiled with delight at the sight of the table and fountain. She gazed at the table, and noticed the candles. She leaped into his arms and kissed him on the laps "I love you too" she breathed between kisses. The couple sat down and devoured the scrumptious meal. Luna showered him with complements about the dinner, saying she had never tasted anything finer. During the middle of the meal Luna struck up a conversation.

"Nico, when is your birthday?"

"August 12th"

"Really?" Luna looked so shocked that she put down her fork.

"Yeah. August 12th 1997"

"How interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"You're a Leo"

"A what?"

"A Leo. The fifth sign of the zodiac, from July 23rd to August 22nd."

"Oh, like Astronomy?"

"Astrology" she corrected

"I still don't see why that's so amazing."

"Well, Leo's complementary sign is Aquarius. They are the opposite of each other, therefore completing each other. The cool part is that I'm an Aquarius."

"So, according to Astrology, we're like, soul mates?"

"Yep. Pretty much."

"Sweet!" Nico said

When they were through, the two sat down; Nico's arm around her. Sitting like this, her head against his chest might have been their favorite thing to do together. It was so peaceful, so therapeutic.

"Luna?" Nico asked

"Mm?"

"What's your middle name?"

"Olivia."

Nico paused for a second and then laughed

"What's so funny?" she pressed

"Your initials spell out LOL, so naturally, I laughed." he said between chuckles

"I...What!...Nuh-uh!" she contradicted, but realized that what he said was true and began to laugh herself.

"How did I not notice this?"

Eventually they stopped laughing and settled back into their original peaceful position. Their peace was interrupted when a rock fell SMACK! Onto Nico's head.

"OW!" he cried

"What was that?" Luna said.

"A friggin rock hit me on the head!"

_"He's so cute even when he's mad" _Luna thought.

Nico located the rock and picked it up, probably preparing to throw it. Abruptly he dropped it like a hot potato and clutched his hand.

"Damn near burned me!" he cursed. The rock hit the ground and morphed into a piece of parchment. Letters began to form words on the parchment. Nico and Luna stared wide eyed at the ancient looking paper.

_Meet me at Central Park._

_Tomorrow_

_9:00pm_

There was no signature.

"What the hell are you supposed to do with this?" Luna said to Nico incredulously.

"Well, it says her to meet whoever this is at Central Park tomorrow."

"No shit, Sherlock" Luna said sarcastically. "Wait, I know! We'll take it to Chiron!

He'll know what to do with it!"

"No way!"

"Yes way! It's not past curfew yet, and you wouldn't be able to go without sanction. C'mon!"

Luna snatched up the paper and dashed to the camp, her sun kissed waves flying behind her. Nico followed her, smiling at her the whole time.

"Well, this is quite extraordinary." Chiron studied the parchment "And it just fell out of the sky?"

"Yes sir"

At that moment Nico arrived, out of breath.

"Young lady here says a rock fell on your head and formed into this" Chiron held

the parchment up to him. "That true?"

"Yes sir" he wheezed. Luna asked:

"So, what do we do?"

"I don't know...I don't see why not" Chiron answered.

"Well, it seems to me that we don't know who it's from, so I don't think we should

risk it." Nico said

"With a proper team, safety won't be as much of a pressing issue." Chiron turned to him

"I still don't think we should risk it!"

"That is not for you to decide."

On that note Chiron walked over to the nearby stream and took out a golden drachma. The Iris-message sprang to life and Mr. D, Dionysus himself was in the reflection. Nico guessed he was asking him what to do. By now, half of the camp had gathered. Luna had informed Kenzie and Sophia about the parchment-rock, and by the time Chiron was on his way back from the stream the entire camp was informed.

"Well, Mr. D doesn't have a problem, as long as you are properly equipped." Chiron turned to Luna.

"Ms Logan, as it was you who brought me the parchment, you are granted the quest. You may go and visit the Oracle."

Nico was shocked. Luna was being given a quest? The rock had fallen on him, dammit! Luna thanked Chiron and went into the attic to see Rachel, the Oracle. The entire camp waited outside, whispering nervously. The waited and waited for at least 10 minutes. By now Nico was getting restless. It didn't take 10 minutes to receive a prophecy. More like 2 at the most. He made up his mind and marched up into the attic. The campers tried to protest, but he wasn't willing to listen. When he was safely inside, he immediately saw Luna lying on the floor, out cold. Rachel looked at him.

"I recited my prophecy to her, and she just passed out."

"Yeah..." Nico didn't understand. He kneeled down by Luna's side and prepared to pick her up. He stopped and turned to the Oracle.

"Rachel, what was the prophecy?"

At once, her face froze and her eyes turned bright green. She began to chant the prophecy in an eerie monotone.

_"In the beauty of the trees_

_There is a being hidden well,_

_That will once be discovered_

_By the offspring of hell._

_One shall fall by_

_The weapon of heroic kin_

_One shall be healed by_

_The blood of the fairest skin."_

Rachel returned and her eyes regained their color. Scared and confused, Nico picked his girlfriend up and hastened out the attic. He got back to the courtyard and set Luna down on the bench next to Kenzie and Sophia. No sooner had he turned to talk to the centaur when she came to.

"Oh!" she said a bit bewildered. "Chiron! The prophecy!"

A dazed Luna waddled over to the centaur and recited what Rachel had said. When she finished, Chiron looked at her and said:

"Well, Luna Logan, as you've already been granted a quest, you are allowed two companions, as is customary. You may pick any two campers you desire."

Luna faced the camp and said the names of the most powerful demigods at Camp Half-Blood.

"Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo"


	10. We Discover A Dented Tree

When Nico walked into the Aphrodite cabin he found Luna in the bathroom stuffing a box of tampons into a Louis Vuitton bag that could have easily fit 2 golden retrievers. She crammed the box in among a plethora of beauty products that filled the suitcase. She attempted to zip it up, but her bag was too full.

"UGH!" she made an exasperated cry.

She pushed down on the items, but they weren't budging. Luna swept up a stray hair and pushed it behind her ear. A drop of perspiration hit the canvas of her designer bag, and Luna broke down.

"I can't do this! I wasn't made for some dumb-ass quest! My makeup won't fit and my clothes suitcase has a broken zipper! Gods dammit, why can't anything go right!"

Luna swore and kicked at her suitcase only to stumble back into her bathroom counter. Another cry followed. She whipped around and seized the nearest object: a mini crystallized table clock. Luna snatched it up and threw it on the ground with such force and anger that the clock shattered sending Swarovski crystals all over the floor. Overly stressed, Luna sank to the floor and began to cry.

Nico seized his opportunity. He kicked away the crystals next to her and sat down beside her. He slipped an arm around her shaking shoulders.

"Shhh, it's okay." He said to her softly.

Luna shuddered and moved into his neck, still crying. She had never done something so monumental like a quest, that it was frightening to her. Luna wasn't usually a crybaby; only when things got too out of hand for her. Nico gingerly kissed the top of her head and kept uttering small comforts.

When she was finished crying, Nico handed her a tissue.

"Thank you" she said, her chest still heaving. Her sorry eyes noticed the crystals all over the floor and almost broke down again.

"Oh no! my clock!" she wailed.

"Don't worry" her boyfriend responded "I'll get one of the Hephaestus boys to fix it."

"Thank you" Luna repeated. "I shouldn't be acting this way, it's just, and I've never done something like this before. Nico, the truth is, I'm not cut out for a quest. I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, not Ares for Zeus' sake."

"It'll be okay. I'll be there to protect you. Now, let's get back to packing"

The next morning Nico woke up at 11:00. He let himself enjoy the mesmerizing sensation of watching his room appear before his eyes as sunlight sprinkled in through the window. The demigod sat up and smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this relaxed. Sure, he had a quest, and all, but….QUEST! Nico leaped from his bed and crammed his scrawny legs into a pair of skinny jeans, swiftly pulled a shirt over his head, and rammed his feet into a pair of Vans. He brushed his teeth with remarkable speed, but didn't bother to comb his hair. He had to eat. His hand was on the doorknob when something made him stop. Hestia's necklace was still on his dresser. He walked back slowly, ignoring time. Nico picked it up and clasped it behind his neck. Sunlight danced around the ace of spades, like it usually did. No one noticed this but him. Calmly, he walked out of his cabin and to the breakfast hall. By now, it was brunch, but he didn't care. He still had to eat.

The son of Hades wolfed down a cinnamon bun and a glass of milk and jogged back to his cabin. He looked around for a suitcase, but he knew he wasn't going to pack anything. All he needed was himself, and his sword, which currently hung at his waist. He was ready.

He exited his cabin again, and went to go check on Luna. She was still applying a fresh coat of makeup, but she was packed. Nico made it a point to smile when he saw that the Swarovski crystal clock was fixed, thanks to Jake Mason from the Hephaestus cabin.

Finally, he led Luna out the door, and to the courtyard. Percy was waiting for them, next to his trusty Pegasus, Blackjack.

"_Hey, boss!"_ the winged horse whinnied to Percy. _"Looks like the Grim Creeper made it!"_

Nico made a sarcastic retort and Percy laughed.

"What time is it?" Luna inquired.

"12:00" Chiron said from behind them. "You're precisely on time."

The three campers nodded. A nervous Luna adjusted the bow holding up her curled pony-tail.

"Well, Percy will be traveling by Pegasus. Obviously Blackjack cannot hold all of you, (Plus Ms. Logan's Massive suitcase) so Nico, do you and Luna have a transportation preference?"

Nico thought for a second. Then it hit him, clear as daylight.

"We'll shadow travel!"

"But doesn't that only work at night?" Percy cut in.

"It works best at night, but it still doable during the day."

"Well then you and Ms. Logan will shadow travel." Chiron confirmed.

"What about my lugga-" Luna cut herself off. "You know what, screw this hunk of junk. If I'm going to be a productive member of this quest, I don't need to be pre-occupied with my looks." Aphrodite's offspring dropped her canvas Louis Vuitton suitcase and motioned for Kenzie and Sophia to come get it.

"Well," Percy walked over to Annabeth. "This is goodbye, for now."

"Don't get yourself hurt, Seaweed brain. I won't be there to save you this time" she teased. Annabeth leaned in and the two demigods shared a parting kiss.

"Good luck Nico and Luna" Annabeth smiled.

"If you three aren't back in three days I'll send a group of campers to search for you." Chiron said, off subject.

"Thanks Chiron" Percy answered.

Nico whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary cam bounding up toppling him over. She held out her massive tongue and began to slobber all over his face. Nico giggled with glee, just as he had once when he was maybe seven of eight. It was just like a little boy playing with a new puppy. Only this dog was A LOT bigger. Nico's laughter was a wonderful, pure and rare sound.

"Okay, okay, down girl." Nico smiled up to his ears, still giggling. Mrs. O'Leary sat down panting. Even sitting, she was the size of a garbage truck.

"Hey Percy, you stick to the skies and I'll stick to the shadows!" Nico and Luna mounted Mrs. O'Leary and Percy mounted Blackjack. With one last goodbye, they were off.

Nico loved the thrill of shadow traveling. He enjoyed the familiar chill of the wind whipping through his hair, all the way to his bones. It was like riding a motorcycle, but 10 times faster. Luna was rather silent during the trip, so whether she liked it or not, Nico couldn't tell. She seemed to have greatly matured over the last few days.

Percy stayed to the skies, but was circumspect about going into Zeus' domain. The danger was worse than the possible reward. Percy made sure to stay near where he thought Nico was. He couldn't see them of course, because they were hidden in the shadows.

After about 45 minutes of traveling, they arrived at central park. Tourists swarmed the area like ants in an ant pile. Luckily, most mortals couldn't see through the mist, so Blackjack would look like a regular horse and Mrs. O'Leary would stick to the shadows. Percy dismounted first, giving the nearby demigod couple the "All clear" The two hopped off Mrs. O'Leary and emerged from the shadows. First things first, they needed a place to sit. Luna decided upon Cedar Hill. It was the closest, most remote and most hidden, since it was surrounded by trees.

Blackjack occupied himself by eating the grass, and the adorable Mrs. O'Leary laid down for a nap, setting her big fluffy head on her humongous fluffy paws.

"So, what now?" Nico said to Percy

"We wait until 9:00pm."

"Until then…"

Percy set his pack down and sat beside it. He unzipped it and pulled out a Mac laptop. It was personalized, with _Percy _engraved on it with a trident next to the name.

"A gift from Annabeth" he explained. "So…" he fired up the Mac. A few clicks later, he was logged onto the internet.

"We need to figure out what magic is hidden so well here, like the prophecy said." Luna pointed out.

"True dat" Nico echoed.

The pair sat down under the tree next to Percy on each side and watched as their cousin searched the web. He swiftly typed in _"list of mythological weapons"_ and clicked on the first sight. It popped up, and Percy quickly scanned the list.

"Hey, click on that one!" Luna pointed at the link to _"Achilles' Pelican Spear"_

"Alrighty then" Percy did as Luna said. When the link came up Percy read it aloud.

"It says here that according to Greek mythology, the God Hephaestus gave Peleus the Pelian spear as a wedding present when Peleus wed Thetis. When Peleus had a son, Achilles, he passed the Pelian Spear along too him. The spear has the power to heal the wound it inflicted. However, this wasn't commonly exercised. Those struck by the spear almost always died, except for one Greek man. He was in love with Aphrodite and somehow managed to have her blood heal his wound. He lived to be and old man. Unfortunately, there wasn't any record of the Pelian Spear after Achilles, but many Mythologists believe it to be hidden in New York City."

No one moved.

Luna was the first to break the silence. "Oh. My. God." She breathed. Luna pointed straight ahead. They followed her gaze. On the tree in front of them was a crevice that looked like a broomstick had been placed in it. Not a broomstick, A SPEAR!

"Whoa, now don't jump to conclusions." Percy said, standing up.

"No way!" Nico said mirroring Percy. The two boys inspected it, feeling the fresh layer of bark in the curve of the tree where they thought the spear may have been.

"Wait a sec," Percy started back to his computer. "It says here that the Pelian Spear is exactly 6 feet long and one inch in diameter." Percy sprinted back to the tree.

"I'm 5'6. Nico, how many inches between the top of my head and the top of this imprint?"

"I'd say about 6 inches."

"So, that mold is exactly 6 feet." Luna noted. "And it is one inch in diameter, just look at it."

"Well, if this really was the spear once, someone took it not too long ago. The bark layer underneath is fresh."

"Looks like you boys have some research to do, coz I'm off." Luna turned around to go, well wherever.

"Typical" Nico shrugged and the two demigods settled next to the computer.

A few hours later Nico glanced at the clock on the computer.

"Shit, Percy, its 8:57! The note said that they'll meet us at 9."

The son of Poseidon closed his computer and stuck it into his pack.

"Where's Luna?" Nico asked

"Right here" The two demigods froze, because this voice wasn't Luna's. The voice that said it was colder than ice. So cold, that it sent shivers down even the son of death's spine.


	11. I Meet The Sisters From Hell, Literally

**Author's note:** Sorry! I accidently combined theis chapter with ch. 10...oops! This is the actual ch. 11. ~~:D

Percy and Nico slowly and cautiously turned around. Behind them was a figure about Nico's height, standing in front of a random tree. The figure was draped and hooded in a black cloak with a face paler than snow. Black liner coated her eyelids and scarlet lipstick coated her lips. The color of her eyes matched her lips perfectly; they were redder than blood. But where her nose should have been was a small stretch of cartilage barley raised with two tiny nostrils. She lifted her claw-like hands and removed the hood from her face to reveal hair black as night slicked back into a ponytail. Despite her creepy appearance, for some reason, Nico wasn't afraid.

"Percy, get a load of this! Edward Cullen and Lord Voldemort had a kid!"

Before Percy could react, she spoke. Her voice was raspy and tense, but oddly soothing.

"Don't try me, demigod." Whatever it was moved to the left, putting the tree she was blocking into view. There, tied to the tree and gagged was Luna Logan.

"Let her go!" Nico groped for his sword. It was so cliché, but Nico didn't care. He would never let anything happen to Luna.

"Not so fast, demigod." She smiled a cruel smile, and took out a whip. It oddly resembled the whips that Percy had seen in the hands of the furies.

"Who are you?" Percy asked, advancing and pointing Riptide at her throat.

"Ahhh, Anklusmos." She smiled that wicked smile again. She flicked the sword from her neck and began to pace in a circle around the two free demigods.

"My name is Aizella. I am the daughter of the Megaera, the Fury of jealousy, and Hades, God of the Underworld."

Nico's heart stopped. "So am I-" Nico was interrupted by a noise behind him.

"Ahhh, Hecraetia, you could make it! And Yes, Nico," Aizella put a finger under his chin. "We're your half sisters."

Nico glared at her so hard, it could have melted ice.

"I like Bianca better."

With one swift move he slapped her hand away and drew his Stygian iron sword. Hecraetia moved over next to her twin sister. The only difference between them was their eye color. Hecraetia's were gold, Aizella's were red. Then, they each removed their cloaks and hissed. Tattered, rotten wings sprouted out of their slimy backs. Their skin morphed into a brown scaly exterior. Their teeth grew sharper and pointier, snarling wildly. Their feet changed into claws with sharp talons. They had changed into furies.

"Oh my gods!" Percy's eyes widened. "They just changed into furies!"

"They can't be as powerful as the actual furies, though! They're just the offspring!" Nico called back.

Aizella and Hecraetia began to flap above them. All of the sudden, Aizella pulled out a long pointed stick.

"The Pelian Spear!"

Aizella aimed the spear at Nico and Charged at him. He barely had time to react, but he managed to deflect its blow. Aizella cried out in disgust and charged again. This time he was ready. She flew down at him and he ducked, but managed to catch his sword on her foot. Green slime spilled out and she screamed. While she was occupied with her wound, Nico raced over to the tree where Luna was tied up. He slashed at the ropes, and managed to cut about half of them.

Aizella noticed what he was doing and charged at him again. She grabbed his shirt with her talons, and lifted him up into the air, high above central park. She stabbed at him with the spear, but her short arms couldn't reach him. Nico reached for his sword, but realized it wasn't there. Nico let out a stream of curses, and grabbed at the Pelian Spear. It was all in vain; her talons wouldn't let him go. The sharp claws dug into his sides and he could feel the blood oozing down his body. She leveled off her flight, and he was so far up he could barely see the park. The atmospheric pressure pushed at his ears, causing tremendous pain. The he realized a terrible fact: they were in Zeus' domain. Children of Hades took a huge risk crossing the boundary lines of the gods. But then he realized something. Aizella was a child of Hades too. She was in just as much danger! Nico had little time to let this thought sink in when she jabbed at him with the spear. He ducked and dodged, each time attempting to grab the spear. Finally, he caught it, and yanked so hard that Aizella was dragged off course. Her head ducked and they began to fly straight down. Nico tried to cut her with the spear, but his current angle wouldn't allow him the leverage. He didn't know what to do. Aizella ducked her head toward him, and hissed so horribly that she was able to grab the spear out of his hand. _"Right back where we started"_ he thought. But that wasn't the case.

Nico yelped as he heard a magnificent crack from above, and a flash of electricity. Zeus! Zeus' aim never failed, and the lightning struck Aizella and zapped through her body.

Nico felt the jolt as the electricity surged through Aizella's body. Because her claws still gripped his sides he equally shared the effect. He was still conscious when Aizella made one last stab at his shoulder with the Pelian spear. It gouged his shoulder to the bone, ripping away layers of flesh. He was unaware that his shoulder was his Achilles spot, but now he knew exactly where it was. He was too stunned to react as blood streamed down his left arm. At least it wasn't his right.

Without warning, Aizella lost consciousness as an effect of the lightning. They began to plummet down back to the ground. Nico figured that her claws would go lax now, but they wouldn't budge. Nico desperately tried to free himself from her clutches, but it only made his shoulder throb worse. He cried out in anguish, knowing the situation was hopeless. His stomach did a flip inside of him as they began to descend faster and faster. The demigod began to pray to the gods. All the ones he could think of, including the minor gods, and even his father Hades. Still no help.

By now, he could make out the outline of central park, and silently thanked the gods. At least he could get back to Luna and Percy. Percy! Nico wondered how of if he was able to hold up against Hecraetia. Nico gagged. The thought of the two horrible demons being his sisters made him sick. His vision began to fade; he was losing too much blood. He could almost make out Cedar Hill when everything went black.

Meanwhile, Percy wasn't making any great progress with Hecraetia. Luckily she didn't possess the spear, but she did have a whip. She was fast, subtle and an experienced fighter. But so was Percy. Plus, he was partly invincible; thanks to his recent bath in the River of Styx. The Gods only knew how old she was. Percy constantly found himself wondering why no one had any record of these beasts. Where had they been all this time?

At that moment Hecraetia cracked her hideous whip, striking Percy square in the face. He swung Riptide, catching the tip of the whip with his sword. She counteracted, torking her wrist so that her whip gripped Percy's sword. She pulled, and Riptide was freed from his hands. He gasped aloud, surprised at being disarmed. Riptide landed about 30 yards away from him. He didn't have enough time to retrieve it. Hecraetia flapped her heinous wings that spanned 12 feet. Percy was forced to back down onto plan b. he anxiously looked around for any sign of water. A pond, puddle, fountain? Nothing. He silently cursed, realizing the only choice he had was to retrieve his weapon.

Hecraetia flew at him, her face inches from his. She hissed ferociously. Percy ducked and rolled, but he only cleared 10 yards. The half-fury realized what he was doing, and put herself between Percy and his sword. She slowly advanced, making him retreat. At once she charged. Percy ducked under her ugly body and ran to his sword. I _"Only 5 more yards! C'mon, come on!"_ he told himself. He was almost there when Hecraetia knocked him flat on his back. He hit the ground with such force that he felt the ground rumble. He looked to his left, and clambered over to grab his sword.

Hecraetia shrieked in frustration. Percy leapt to his feet, only to be knocked down by the magnificent force of Aizella and Nico falling to the ground. Hecraetia, too, was caught off guard. Percy quickly examined Nico and Aizella's situation. From his angle, he could barely see Nico, but he could tell that he was trapped in her claws. He was a tiny bit relieved when he saw no sign of consciousness from Aizella, but worried when he saw the same from Nico. He prayed that his cousin would be okay.

He didn't have enough time to finish this thought when Hecraetia began to narrow in on him. She backed him up farther and farther until he reached the tree where Luna was held hostage. Percy was tempted to cut her free, but he didn't want to put her in danger. She squirmed, trying desperately to loosen herself from the ropes that bound her. At once, Hecraetia cracked her whip. Percy ducked. By some miracle the whip slashed the ropes in half and Luna was freed. She un-gagged herself and let out a huge sigh of relief. The half-fury was too busy with Percy to notice her, so Luna scampered over to Nico.

She cupped his pale face in her hands, and called his name. No answer. Luna noticed that Aizella's claws still held him captive and began to pry them off. She managed to budge them a little bit at a time, but not enough to free Nico. Frustrated, she circled around the hideous beast in search of a sharp object. She also attempted to figure out why Aizella was dead. Nico couldn't have stabbed her; there was no blood. She didn't have a broken neck or anything. It had to be something more powerful. She remembered them flying up higher than her eyes could see into….Zeus' domain! They must have been hit by lightning! Luna was right. She, like Nico before her realized that this meant that Nico might be dead too.

Luna ran back around Aizella to Nico and tried to free him one last time. She poured all of her anger and frustration into breaking Aizella's grasp. The claws rubbed her hands raw, but finally she freed him. She dragged him away from the claws and laid him down. It was then that Luna noticed the horrible wound to his shoulder. She was disgusted, but mortified. Luna began to cry, wondering if Nico was still alive. It felt like all she ever did was cry. She listened for a heartbeat, and found one. She began to cry even harder knowing that he _wasn't_ dead.

Then, Hestia's necklace captured her gaze. She had never seen it before. Curious, she took it off of him and put it around her own neck. Oblivious to its magic, she pressed the skull trying to feel the material. All at once she felt a calm soothing sensation, as if she were getting a massage at a spa. Colors floated into her mind softly, as she started to understand what she never had before. The _'Eureka!' _moments calm to her in the form of the prophecy. _"In the beauty of the trees there is a being hidden well" _That was Aizella and Hecraetia hiding in Central Park. _"That will once be discovered by the ancestor of hell" _well, Nico was the son of Hades, and he had pretty much found them. (Besides her being held hostage by them of course) _"One shall fall by the weapon of heroic kin" _it was obvious to her now that Nico had been wounded by the Pelian Spear. _"One shall be healed by the blood of the fairest skin"_ was still an enigma.

"Wait! No it's not!" she said aloud and scrambled around for Nico's sword. It had previously fallen here before. Within a few minutes she had her hands on the Stygian Iron blade. She knelt over Nico's shoulder. She knew who the last line of the prophecy was referring to. She knew what she had to do.

The first cut stung. She swiped the blade over her wrist, letting the blood leak out and fall into Nico's shoulder. She did a second cut and a third. She didn't even notice the tears streaming down her face. Slowly, scarlet droplets seeped into Nico's wound, silently working there magic. Luna couldn't stand to look at it anymore. She turned away from the gruesome sight, turning her wrist upside down.

And when she looked back, Nico was healed.

Nico gingerly opened his eyes and smiled. Luna was so overjoyed that she forgot about Percy and Hecraetia, and leaned down to kiss him. She had never felt anything better.

"What are we doing here?" Nico said

Luna didn't answer; she was still kissing him.

"Seriously," he said between kisses

Luna's eyes widened. "The batt- Perc-Hecraetia!

"OH!" Nico leapt to his feet, coming to his senses. He grabbed his sword from the ground next to Luna and didn't bother to wonder why it was stained with blood. After all, he had no clue what Luna had done.

Nico got within a 20 yard radius of Hecraetia and Percy. He knew it was no use fighting them; they were too powerful. Instead, he decided to use his powers. Nico grounded his feet and held out a hand. What felt like black smoke erupted inside of him, and all of a sudden, Hecraetia fell to the ground, dead. Just like her sister.

Percy turned his gaze and saw Nico. He smiled so big it could have lit up New York City. He never expected that seeing a kid in black jeans and leather jacket would make him so relieved and happy. Percy ran to his cousin and wrapped him in a huge embrace. On the other side of Cedar Hill, Luna couldn't help smiling too. She quickly adjusted her clothes and dashed over to join the group hug, with all the pain and joy of knowing they were safe.

**Author's note:** To give you a visual, there is link to a picture of Cedar Hill in Central Park on my profile.

.Also, the facts about the Pelian Spear in this chapter are all true, except the part about it being hidden in NYC


	12. We Say Goodbye, Sort Of

When Nico, Percy and Luna made it home, a huge party awaited them. Malcolm handed Nico a virgin piña colada and slapped him on the back to congratulate him. Percy and Luna heartily danced to the party anthems such as "Your Love Is My Drug" and "Here We Go Again", but Nico slunk into the background and quickly escaped, leaving the balloons, refreshments and confetti behind.

Nico reached his cabin and set his drink down on his nightstand. Luna had given him Hestia's necklace back, so he set that down too. He hung his sword back on the wall, picked his piña colada back up and stepped over to his summoning pit. Nico began to chant, rhythmically and monotonous; ancient Greek flowing from his mouth like lava from a volcano. He had no food offering, so he did the next best thing. He dumped the entire virgin piña colada into the pit. It began to sizzle and ghosts began to emerge. He swatted them away with his hand, sending them back to wherever they came from. He finished his chanting, stood up and spread his arms.

"HADES, God of the Underworld, SHOW YOURSELF!" Nico bellowed

The pit began to hiss. Smoke blacker than the darkest ash seeped out of the dry pit. The smoke snaked up Nico's nostrils and down his throat, infecting his lungs. The smoke began to leak out of his pit more profusely and then it erupted into flames so hot the singed Nico's eyebrows. It cooled, and Out of the ash stepped his father, Hades. His presence was intimidating and Nico willed his knees not to quiver.

The God before him was dressed in all black, just like Nico. He wore a leather jacket and chains hung from his jeans. Rings were piled on every finger, and many satanic necklaces hung about his neck. His unruly hair grazed his shoulders. When he spoke, the ground rumbled, but Nico knew he wasn't as powerful above the ground as he was below.

"I cannot be summoned like some mongrel pup!" Hades snarled

"Apparently you can" Nico retorted

"Don't test me, son" He spat the last word out as if it left him with a bad taste.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Speak to me in a tolerable tone!"

"Why should I?" Nico stepped so close; he had to look up to see his father.

"Because I'm your father!"

"Yeah, you're a real prize."

Neither father or son noticed Percy standing in the doorway.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nico repeated

"Tell you what?"

"About my demon sisters?"

"What are you babbling about?"

"Aizella and Hecraetia, you dumb-ass!"

"B-but they…didn't she…..I thought…"Hades was at a loss for words

"HA! So you DID know!"

Infuriated, Hades stepped back and turned his back on his son. There, on the mantle, he noticed the Mythomagic figurine of himself. The one Bianca had risked her life for. The one Nico called his most prized possession. Hades saw it. Hades snatched it up and turned to face his son.

"This is how you respect me!" Hades almost yelled and lifted it up, preparing to smash it on the ground.

Nico didn't know what came over him. Inexplicably, the next instant, a wave of fire flew out of his hands, trapping his father. It sent him sprawling backwards into the pit. Nico kept the fire going, harder and harder. Before he could control what was happening, Hades had disappeared. Nico di Angelo had just sent his father back to the underworld.

A glint of silver caught his eye. Nico rescued his figurine and set it back onto his mantle. Then he heard a voice behind him.

"D—did you just send your dad back to the Underworld?"

Nico turned and nodded to Percy. Before he could ask what he was doing here, Percy answered.

"Luna sent me to get you. She said she needs to talk to you."

Nico nodded again, and Percy went to get Luna. When she arrived, he could tell something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Michael."

"What about him?" a thousand thought raced through his head. Does she still like him? Is she breaking up with me? None of them were even close.

Luna drew in a deep breath. "It was his birthday the day before we went on our quest. He got permission to visit his family in Kansas. On his way back home, he was killed." Silent tears streamed down her angelic face.

"I'm so sorry." Nico cradled her body, not knowing how to make her feel better.

"I know it sounds silly, but I want to go see him. See his burial, to know he is at peace. Like I did wi-with my sister."

Luna shuddered before continuing.

"Somehow, I feel it's my fault. I don't know how or why. But I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Oh, Luna, baby, it's not your fault. Do you want me to come with you?"

Luna shook her head. "No, Nico. This is something I have to do alone."

"How will I know that you're safe? I have to know. You mean everything to me."

Luna smiled through her tears. "I'll be back at sundown tomorrow."

The next morning, the couple shared a passionate goodbye kiss, and Luna left.


	13. When It Rains, It Pours

Nico walked to the camp's entrance the next day. It was almost sundown, and the air was beginning to soften. Nico stuffed his hands into his leather jacket and waited. He knew Luna would come. He let his mind float from memory to memory-their first kiss, the quest, the endless times he had comforted her, being the protector. He smiled at his sentiment. Luna would come. He knew it. She had to.

The sun set behind magenta clouds, as if saying farewell. Nico still waited. The sky began to darken as night crept over, and Luna still hadn't come. Nico still waited.

Then, he heard it; the familiar ringing in his ears. The only reason his ears ever rang was if someone had died. His heart stopped cold in disbelief. Shock crept over him, mercilessly eating at his vulnerable skin.

It couldn't be. But he knew it; he felt it in the bottom of his heart. She would never come home. Luna Logan had died.

At that moment he did something he hadn't done for as long as he could remember. Nico di Angelo began to cry. He let the tears flow down from his eyes. All the feelings he had bottled up inside of him forever suddenly slipped down his cheeks in the form of tiny, wet droplets. They were free at last.

As if on cue, the sky opened up and started to cry as well. It opened up and poured. The rain fell on Nico's heaving shoulders. It ran through his hair. Nico let the rain engulf him, wishing it could sweep him away. Pain tore at his last heartstrings, and Nico wished the rain could sweep away the hurt as well. The sky still poured. It came to the point where he couldn't tell if he was still crying or if it was rain streaked across his face. The rain kept coming, harder and harder.

And when the rain stopped it had washed everything clean, as if saying to start anew.

And that's just what he did.

.

.

**Author's note: **Fin. I would like to say a tremendous thank you to the following people for their support of my story: (I apologize if I miss any names) FreshPress, Luna Jackson, Superpear8, Annabeth Supporter, trekkie56, Melbel10, cookiedemon, KayCelestine, Zoe Nightshade, Emokid45, Viggs, PercyJackson-love, Brisingr364, RebeccaBaxter, Violet Westing, gothyjulia, sunwriter55, percabeth15, Goddess-Demetra, Meg, irishalways, Hana Cullen Fowl, mrs. O'leary, Haru158, CotTlover. Maj5ive, bookworm0326, ChildOfAthena, daughters of the big 3, got2lovenico, ginger9297, kana-kai, marialupitadelasnieves96, PercabethFax97, Scarlet Rayvenne, WhenDayMeetsDark, Warriorsqueen, AquaFreez, ThaliaGrace04. Thank you all for either putting me on your favorite stories/author list, reviewing, or giving me advice/criticism via PM. Thank you all so much; I could never have done this without you!


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